What You Want
by dracoyoflam
Summary: hiatus Draco and Hermione work together and he wants her to learn how to have some real fun. Rated R for Language and Sexual content in later chapters.
1. Dreaming and Work

Hi, I had this great idea for a story and here it is. I know that readers have so many ideas for stories but their ideas almost never get used. So I'm writing this story from all of your ideas, but don't worry you get all the credit.

Since I'm doing it from reader ideas, I will need a lot of reviews with input or this won't be a very interesting story.

I want to do it one chapter at a time, maybe two at most. So leave ideas for the next chapter and I will make a chapter out of it. I will also give credit to all the readers who gave ideas for each chapter.

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Thanks to flatliner15 and NutsAboutHarry for the ideas.

NutsAboutHarry left a lot of ideas that I will use, the ones that I used in this chapter are…

Draco isn't a total arsehole but he's kind and considers but not in a gooey kind of way.  
Also that he is still dealing with the war and Hermione helps him in someway with it.  
Hermione is still bookish and studious.

flatliner15 left the idea about Ron and Ginny, she really likes the pairing.

Thank you so much and please enjoy and leave whatever you want to see happen in the story.

WARNING: Slight Ron and Ginny in the beginning but nothing unreadable I promise.

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Chapter One: Dreaming and Work

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Ron was sitting alone in his bedroom waiting for someone to walk in.  


When he finally heard footsteps, he stood up quickly and stared at the door as Ginny stood in the doorway for a moment before she walked in.

Ron spoke in a low whisper, "Well, come over here already. I've been waiting for hours."

Ginny slowly walked up to Ron. He quickly grabbed her in his arms and started to kiss her passionately. He could feel himself starting to get aroused , so he pressed himself against her to let her know what was about to happen.

Ginny pulled her lips away from his and stood there for a moment.

Ron waited with an expression full of confusion, and then he gently asked her, "What's wrong Ginny, I thought that we weren't going to fight this anymore?"

Ginny's face looked sad as she replied, "Ron, I don't know how to tell you this but..."

She stopped for a moment to wipe a tear from her eye, "Ron, I'm pregnant."

Ron woke from his dream and sat up quickly in his bed before shouting, "Bloody hell! What was that all about?"

Ron was covered in sweat and was very confused. He pulled the bed covers off himself and looked around his bedroom. There was no one there. He sat in his bed alone as he noticed the morning sun starting to shine through the curtains.

He lay back down with a thud, covered his face with the pillow, and thanked Merlin that it was only a dream.

By this time in the morning, Hermione was already at work and ready to start her day.

She worked in a wizarding office. She started immediately after school ended and she had been there for about four years now.

She was on her way to her office when she bumped into someone. She turned to apologize, then saw exactly whom she ran into.

"Oh Malfoy, I'm sorry I just..."

Before she could even finish her sentence, he cut in, "It's fine. Just be more careful next time."

"All right , I will."

As she continued to walk away, she heard his voice from behind her say, "I'm still coming by this afternoon for our usual discussion, right?"

She didn't stop walking; she just turned her head a little and shouted over her shoulder, "Yes, of course! I'll see you then."

Draco Malfoy also worked at the same office, but he had only been there for about three years now. Throughout the time they had worked together, they had become pretty good acquaintances - almost friends, but neither would admit it.

Hermione was finally on her lunch break. She was of course, reading a large book while waiting for Malfoy to show up for their usual once a week discussion.

For the past few months, they had been meeting up regularly to discuss the war. They 

were both a bit emotionally scarred about everything that had happened during their school years and they had found that talking about it with each other helped enormously to resolve their past issues.

While having these meetings, Hermione could finally see the true Draco Malfoy and she found him to be quite nice to be around as long as he wasn't in a foul mood, which tended to happen every now and then, especially when he had to talk about his father. Apparently, they didn't get along at all, which surprised everyone.

When Draco walked into her office, he smiled slightly to himself when he saw her reading.

"Nose stuck in a book, as always."

Hermione looked up and gave him a look as he walked over to an extra chair in the office. She put her book down and turned her chair over toward his. They began their conversation slowly and by the end, they were both speaking very animatedly. They were almost arguing, but they were both on the same side.

Hermione glanced down at her watch and gasped, "Oh no! My break is over! I should have been back to work five minutes ago!"

Draco looked at her as she moved her chair back and pulled out some paperwork that she had been working on. He smirked and stood up to leave, but before he reached the door, he turned to her and said, "You know, five minutes isn't really that big of a deal; we were having a nice conversation."

Hermione stared at him for a moment before she replied, "Yes, it is a big deal! Work is very important to me and I have responsibilities ."

Draco took a couple steps forward and cleared his throat. "You're more important than your work; you need to get out and do something fun every now and then."

"I do fun stuff all the time..."  


Draco cut her off before she could finish the sentence, "Reading doesn't count."

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**Review with ideas if you want a second chapter.**

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Thank you for reading and please review if you'd like to see a second chapter.  
I need ideas to continue. Remember you will get credit.

I decided to do this for readers so if you want more than let me know and tell me what you would like to see in the next chapter.

Thanks! :)

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Also if you would like to discuss anything about this story or any of my other stories then please visit my Yahoo! Group and I will answer any questions the best I can.  
Or if you'd like, you can e-mail me.

-dracoyoflam


	2. Trying New Things

A/N: Hey guys. I'm so sorry about the super long wait.

I promise that I'll be updating a LOT faster now. :)

Well, Enjoy and please review.

Chapter 2: Trying new things

Ron sat at the kitchen table of the Burrow, his fingers entwined around a now cold mug of tea. The thoughts were buzzing round his brain so fast he couldn't make heads or tails of them, all he could do was repeat the words 'Ron, I'm pregnant' in his head, and watch it coming from his sisters perfectly soft pink lips, and he hit himself on the head as he thought the last.

He had been sitting there for hours, just watching the steam float off the tea, then disappear as the substance cooled.

"What's wrong with me?" he whispered to himself, flicking a fiery red strand of hair from his eyes.

It was only a dream, neigh, nightmare. But what could have possibly bought it on, she was his sister. He dwelled on the thought for a few seconds before rising from his chair in frustration and upturning the table while letting out an angry roar. Was he angry at his nightmare, or the fact that he was beginning to wish she wasn't his sister?

"Ron?" an all to familiar voice asked from the bottom of the staircase.

Ron froze to the spot for a moment, feeling his hands becoming clammy he decided to get out as fast as he could. He looked towards her through the hair that had fallen across his face.

"Erm…erm-I'vegottogo," He had said it so quickly Ginny had nearly missed it.

She was about to ask him what was going on when he had grabbed his coat from the hook and dashed out the door, waving his wand as he went so the table stood back up on all four legs.

"What the?" She stared after him; he never normally did something like that unless he was really frustrated with something, or someone.

And she guessed that it was her, because he didn't look at her, which was strange, and for some bizarre reason it really cut her. "What have I done?" she muttered. Ginny Weasley could tell something was bothering her brother, and because it was causing him to not even look at her, she was going to find out what.

**********************************

A week later Draco took Hermione to a club in down town London. Inside the club there were people dancing on a dimly lit dance floor while others were at the bar chatting and drinking butterbeer. The lights were flashing fast with lots of colors which occasionally revealed the hiding couples in corner booths.

Hermione noticed that some of the booths had closed curtains which, even though she would never admit it, made her a little curious. Draco was wearing a light blue silk shirt that clung to all of the right places showing off his muscular body. He was wearing expensive jeans that hung nicely from his hips.

Hermione noticed while looking around that Draco's beautiful grey eyes were sparkling in the lights, when they managed to shine on them. His hair hung loosely onto his face but somehow it still looked as if he had spent hours to get it right. After noticing all of these things, Hermione suddenly felt very out of place. She was wearing a pair of stained jeans that hung very loose on her legs and a high neck black shirt that she would have worn to work. Her hair was up in a messy bun, being held in place by a pencil from her office. She started to feel very self conscious and wanted to leave immediately.

Draco turned and pressed his mouth to her ear and she felt a shiver go up her spine as he spoke, "Would you like something to drink?" She shook her head still looking around.

"Would you care to dance then?"

She shook her head again and he sighed while taking her hand and forcing her to follow him onto the dance floor where a fast paced song just started to play. Draco pulled her to the centre of the floor and started dancing around her.

Hermione stood there and started to shout to Draco, "I know this song! It's by Paramore, I love this band!"

Draco stepped in front of Hermione and put his index finger to her lips, "Shhh, no talking, just dancing."

Hermione wasn't sure what she should do, she was very uncomfortable and the odd contact from Draco made her feel even more out of place. Draco pulled his hand away and started to dance again. Hermione decided that the sooner she obliged, the sooner she could go home and read. She started to awkwardly move her arms in a circle like she was stirring a large pot.

Draco smirked to himself and made a mental note, 'I have to teach her how to dance before we come back here. Oh and maybe some new clothes'. Without warning, the fast song moved on to a slow song. Hermione decided that there was no amount of money that could get her to stay on the dark dance floor any longer.

As she started to move off of the dance floor Draco laughed a little, grabbed her hand and turned her towards him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked and she blushed.

"I don't really know how to dance, obviously." He just smiled and draped her arms around his neck and put his hands on her hips. When he did this she backed away quickly and looked at him with a shocked expression on her face.

"What are you doing?"

"Dancing, of course." He then grabbed her by the hips again and started to try to lead her around the dance floor.

Hermione blushed brightly every time she tripped over her own feet but luckily Draco was experienced and strong enough to make it look almost unnoticeable.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The next day Hermione and Ginny were shopping together in Diagon Alley at the newest clothing store. Hermione was currently in a dressing booth feeling very unsure of herself as Ginny was standing outside the booth talking to her.

"I'm so glad that I finally got you out to get new clothes. I can't wait to see you in clothes that are actually in style."

"Hey, I'm stylish in my own way; I don't have to be like everyone else to be interesting."

Ginny rolled her eyes and prepared for another argument with Hermione about looks. "Hermione, we all know how interesting you are, there's no question there. I just want you to be able to look stylish every now and then, is that so bad?"

Hermione paused and quickly thought back on last night with Draco. "Okay. I'll try on the clothes and see where it goes from there."

Ginny's eyes almost popped out of her head and she had to ask Hermione to repeat herself. Never in a million years did Ginny think that Hermione would actually agree to try something trendy. Hermione then walked out of the booth wearing a blue jean mini-skirt and a black corset with blue strings.

"What do you think?" She asked pulling on the skirt trying to wish it longer.

"I think it looks great, now stop tugging on the skirt." Ginny said swatting at her hands.

"I don't know. I feel really weird." Hermione wrapped her arms around her body and started to slowly inch towards the booth to change back into her 'normal' clothes again.

"Hermione, stop it. You look beautiful and I think that the next time you see Draco, you'll understand why I dragged you in here."

Hermione was suddenly very confused and slightly annoyed. "What are you talking about? What does this have to do with Draco?"

Ginny just smiled and pushed Hermione back into the changing booth. "Just try on the next outfit."

Hermione went more than willingly into the booth but wouldn't give up that easily on the conversation. "No. I want to know what you're talking about."

Ginny sighed loudly and decided what the hell. "Fine..." Ginny paused for a moment. "Draco is the one who asked me to bring you here."

"What?!" Hermione stopped what she was doing, shocked. "Why would he want you to bring me shopping?"

"He wanted to make sure you had something to wear for the next time you two go out, I guess." Ginny giggled imaging the look that Draco will have when he sees Hermione in her new clothes.

"What makes you think that we'll go out again? And it wasn't a date. It was just as two friends."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Sure sure, whatever you say." She heard Hermione grunt a little but noticed that Hermione didn't even try to argue.

A few minutes went by and Ginny was getting a little impatient.

"Come on Hermione, what's taking so long?"

"I'm not coming out like this, I can't wear this."

A smile lit up Ginny's face when she realized what outfit Hermione was probably wearing and hating. "Come on, just let me see it." The door opened slowly and Hermione stepped out hesitantly. For a moment Ginny was speechless with her mouth hanging open making Hermione blush.

"That looks.....it's just so......I can't even think of the right word to use. You look fabulous."

Hermione of course wrapped her arms around herself again but this time, Ginny yanked her arms away. "Ginny! This shirt is so revealing. I can't go out wearing this."

"Hermione, this is the way shirts are supposed to look when you go partying. Can you breathe and move okay?"

Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled then she bent forward and back like she was stretching. "Yeah, I can do both, why?"

"Then it's perfect. And you look great. You should wear pink more often, it really works for you."

Hermione simply walked back into the changing booth and closed the door. She turned to look at herself in the full length mirror on the wall. She turned side to side and ran her hands up and down her sides and stomach.

'Well, I guess it does look okay. Besides, I'll only be wearing it in a dark club anyway. No harm in trying it out in public.'

With that last thought, Hermione changed and ended up buying more clothes than she had had in her closet for the past four years. She thought this was Ginny's plan all along, so she would never wear her normal clothes again. 'Well, we'll see about that.'

So finally, they both left the store, leaving a very happy saleslady.


	3. Forgiving but not Forgetting

This chapter is longer than the last two. I really hope you all like it.

Please review. They inspire. :D

Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Forgiving but not Forgetting

Ginny picked up the muggle phone that sat by her bed, she still didn't like using it much, but she wanted to talk to Harry and owl just wasn't fast enough. She routed through her bedside cabinet and found the piece of paper with his number on, she had never been able to memorize it. After looking from the paper to the phone a couple of times, she typed in the numbers and placed it uncomfortably to her ear.

It began to ring and she sighed. 'Should I really be telling him this, or asking the other?' she thought. However she didn't have long to ponder on this, as there was a slight knocking noise on the other end of the phone and she heard Harry's loud, and sounding rather annoyed voice.

'What?' Came his yell. Ginny moved the phone from her ear in reaction and looked at it with a shocked expression on her face.

'Harry?' She spoke cautiously, not wanting to rile him more.

'Ginny? Oh it's you. Sorry about that, idiotic co-workers, you know what I mean.' He sounded uneasy and harassed, which just made her even more uncertain of herself.

'Erm, yeah.' She didn't know what else to say, she wasn't sure if she wanted to say anything anymore.

'So, what's the problem?' He asked, sounding slightly more calm than before. Ginny stayed silent for a second, trying to word what she was going to say about each thing she wanted to mention.

'No problem, I was just wondering if you've noticed…Ron…behaving strangely?' She thought the words were cutting her more than they should have.

Harry breathed out quietly. 'Erm, I have actually. I have a bad feeling…it's about a girl. He's been very depressed looking, and doing that sigh, you know the one.'

He finished there, not having anymore information to give her. She stared in front of her, nodding her head very slightly. She knew it alright. It was the one thing she hated about her brother, that horrid sigh, it pulled at her heart every time she heard it, every time she saw it.

She heard Harry say something else and snapped out of her daze. 'Oh, yeah sorry. Also, I wanted to talk to you about Hermione,'

_-_-_-_-_-_

Hermione was walking through the dancing crowd of a night club. There was so much fog that she could hardly see ahead of herself to know where she was going but somehow she still knew. The music wasn't very noticeable but she realized that it had an odd slow beat to is.

The women were dancing slow and sexy with their partners, no one noticed Hermione pushing through the crowd. She walked through even more fog and suddenly no one was next to her anymore. The lights dimmed even more except for one low light shining right onto a couple.

She was slowly walking up to them, she didn't know why. The woman had her back to her and she could tell that they were kissing, the man had his hands holding her close to him. Hermione sat on the dark stool next to them and looked up at their pretty faces. The man was platinum blonde and the woman had long curly hair. The couple stopped kissing and the woman looked down at Hermione. She looked into the woman's eyes and realized that she was looking at herself.

"What are we doing here?"

The woman smiled and bent lower to whisper into Hermione's ear. "Like you don't know."

Hermione pulled her head back and tuned in to look the woman in the face. "But, I don't. I don't understand."

The woman didn't reply, she simply walked away into the fog and through the crowd. The man reappeared and Hermione realized that the man must be Draco but she still didn't understand which was really aggravating her.

"I don't understand." She repeated.

Draco stepped incredibly close and bent down to her ear just like the woman had done the moment before.

"You will." This was all he said. The man pulled back slightly then slowly and passionately started to kiss Hermione.

At that moment Hermione practically fell out of bed as she woke in a state of shock. When she got up she smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes and walked to the kitchen for breakfast wondering what the dream meant. Why would she be kissing Draco? They were only friends right? She wasn't paying much attention to what she doing as she made her breakfast so she ended up burning her wrist while making the eggs.

She just sighed and rubbed aloe on it to help with the burning not thinking about using her wand to heal it. She then finished in the kitchen and went back to her room to get dressed for work. When she entered her room she noticed an owl at her window so she went and let it in. She then took the letter and sat down on her bed to read.

Hermione,

Ginny told me that you and Malfoy are an item now. What are you thinking? He's not good enough for you, have you forgotten what he did to us at school? I know you've been friends for a while but just think about what I'm saying, okay?

HP

She sighed again and turned the letter over to write back.

Harry,

Draco and I are not an item. Ginny was wrong, we are just friends. You have nothing to worry about.

HG

She then gave it to the owl and it flew away. After watching it fly out of view, she hurried to finish getting ready for work, she wanted to be early as always.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Hermione was walking very quickly to her office. She didn't feel like much of a people person today. In fact, she felt a little crabby even though nothing really happened to make her that way. When she was nearly to her office she tripped over her own feet and dropped some books and quills that she had been carrying.

She bent down quickly and just as she went to grab a book, someone else's large warm hand touched hers and started grabbing the books for her.

She went to look up at the person helping her immediately felt even more crabby. Her face was so close to his that she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Hey Hermione, you really should learn to walk without tripping everywhere." Draco smirked at her as he handed her things over. They stood there for a moment then Hermione just pushed by and practically ran to her office and slammed the door closed. She didn't really understand why she was so bad-tempered but it had to be his fault somehow. Him and his good looks had made her have that dream so it HAD to be his fault.

A few moments later her door opened and in walked 'Mister Almighty' himself.

"What's wrong Hermione? Did I do something to upset you?" He asked a little concerned.

She shook her head. "No...Yes....I don't know. I'm sorry, I must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

He smirked at her and replied, "Oh, and what side of the bed do you sleep in? I sleep on the right myself but if you want it I'll give it to you." He joked and she blushed a little. Why was she blushing? It was only a joke....Wasn't it? She shook her head, of course it was.

"Shut up, Draco. Since you had Ginny take me shopping Harry thinks we're an item and I for one don't want people to get the wrong idea."

He looked hurt at that. "So does that mean you would never want to date me?"

"Well....umm....no, I don't know, it just means I don't want people to get the wrong idea that's all."

"Okay then. I'll see you later, I have a lot of work to do." He then turned with a smirk on his face and left the room. What neither of them knew was that someone was over hearing their conversation and had her own plan as what to do with Hermione so that she couldn't have her Draco.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Finally lunch time arrived, Hermione had never been more happy to take a break. She was having trouble concentrating and the day felt like it was dragging on and on. As she headed out of the building she the feeling that someone was following her, but when she turned she didn't see anyone there.

'It's probably just Draco trying to scare me or something.' She thought and kept walking. A few seconds later an arm wrapped around her waist and a hand covered her mouth and she started to try to fight against the arm but the person was too strong for her.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way Granger. If I were you I'd do it easy way." It was Draco and she started to calm down and he let her go. As soon as she was free she turned on him with her wand pointed at him.

"How dare you do something like that to me!? That was.....ugh....it was horrible." She couldn't help but smile thankful it was only him.

"Sorry, I didn't really mean to frighten you. I was just wondering if you'd go to lunch with me?"

"Sure, why not?"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Half way through lunch, they decided to have their weekly meeting since they were covering the topics anyway. Towards the end Draco suddenly changed the topic to himself and Hermione. He was talking about the bad relationship that they used to have.

"I just don't understand how you can forget about everything that I've done to you."

Hermione looked down and replied, "Forgiveness is just a switch in the heart, that's easy. But forgetting..."

Draco suddenly looked like he was in pain but Hermione was still looking down at her lap.

"Wait, you mean that you still think about those things?"

Hermione finally looked up and saw his pained face. She could tell that he was trying to hide it but she had known him long enough to see it. "Well, yes. I mean not often. It's just that sometimes when I'm around you it makes me think back on the things that happened."

"Hermione, I'm really sorry. About everything. I hope that you know that."

Hermione checked her watch and started to stand.

"Where are you going?"

"Lunch is over, we're going to be late."

Draco stood with her and grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing Draco?"

He hesitated for a moment but finally let her go. "Hermione, I would never hurt you. I just want you to know that."

Hermione smiled slightly and walked closer to Draco. "Oh Draco, I know. I trust you but I can't just forget what happened between us and honestly I don't know how you can."

He stepped a little closer to her so that he could feel her breath on his face. "I haven't forgotten but I don't want to remember. I don't like to think about the way I used to be. I am very sorry about that and if I could take it back I would." With him being so close Hermione's heart started to beat faster and she couldn't seem to think right.

'What's wrong with me?' She thought. 'I shouldn't be reacting like this, we're only friends.' She stepped closer and looked up at him and he looked down. He then started to lower his face to hers and when he was just centimeters away from her lips he pulled back and turned his face away from her.

"We're late.." Was all he said, but what she didn't see was that he of course had a smirk on his face.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ginny sat at the kitchen table of the Burrow, her head racing with thoughts, about everything. About Ron. She still didn't know what was wrong with him, she was becoming desperate. His image was tugging at her eye lids, so every time she shut them he was there.

He was tugging at her sanity. She sat at the table, trying to figure out what she was going to say to him, she was planning on waiting until he came home, then she would confront him. It wasn't that a big deal. So why was her heart thumping so fast?

She still had three hours until he would arrive home for lunch, and she thought it wouldn't be wise to ruin his lunch as well, so she would go up stairs just before he arrived. But once he was gone she would sit in this exact spot again and wait. He would come home two hours after that, and she would be there, at the table, staring as he entered the door.

A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review. I will try to update asap. :D


	4. Awkward Events

Chapter Four: Awkward Events

Draco and Hermione walked back to Hermione's office. Hermione walked toward her desk and Draco was about to leave when he said, "I'm going to give you dance lessons."

Hermione was about to sit when she heard this and ended up missing the chair completely. She landed hard on the floor and ended up wishing that Draco didn't see it. Of course her wish went unnoticed as Draco hurried over to help her up. Draco had a smirk on his lips as he grabbed her hand to let her up.

"Hermione, you are so clumsy. I can't believe you helped defeat Voldemort." He laughed. She just rolled her eyes and sat down making sure she didn't miss again.

"At least I helped defeat him instead of being on his side." She said and regretted it as soon as she did because when she looked at him she could see the hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I just don't know what's wrong with me today."

"It's okay, after all, I used to send insults to you all the time. I deserve it." He then turned to leave and as he reached the door he felt her grab is arm.

"No, you don't deserve it, you've changed." He turned, and the look on her face was enough for him to forgive her.

"So what do you say to those dance lessons then?" He asked smiling and she looked down blushing.

"I don't know, I'm not very good."

"That's the point in the lessons. I'll teach you."

"Ugh, okay, fine, but you can't laugh at me when I mess up."

"I wont, I promise." With that he turned and left her office with a smile on his face.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The awkward work day finally ended and Hermione hurried down the hall to leave the building.

"Hermione, wait up."

She pushed open the door and kept walking. She felt a hand grab her wrist and immediately knew it was Draco.

Without looking back at him she kept her pace and replied, "What do you want Draco? I want to go home."

"Slow down, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute to set up a time for the lessons."

Hermione grunted and sighed. She stopped suddenly and turned around to face Draco. In fact, she had stopped and turned so fast that Draco ran into her and nearly knocked her over. He quickly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against his body.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm the clumsy one now." He smirked and all she could do was stare in shock.

"It's, umm, fine." She finally said but didn't pull away, she liked the feeling of being that close to him. After a few seconds of starring at each other Draco finally pulled away not wanting to do something she might not want. When he pulled away she was a little disappointed but didn't say anything and pretended that she didn't care.

"Why don't you come by later tonight I guess. As long as it doesn't take long it will be fine, but we have work tomorrow so it can't be too late." She suggested and turned to leave again.

"Okay, I'll see you tonight then." He called after her and went on his way.

Pansy stood not to far away from them and heard their short conversation. She couldn't let this happen, HE was hers and no one else's. She had to come up with a plan to get rid of Granger, Fast. So she headed for the one person she knew always had a thing for Hermione and would help.

When she got to his flat she knocked and waited. When he opened the door she smiled.

"I need your help with something. It involves Granger." Hearing the name he smiled and moved aside to let her in. Once inside she sat down and looked at him. Blaise Zabini would be able to help her better than anyone.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked and sat across from her.

_-_-_-_-_-_

5 minutes…until Ronald returned home. Well, she hoped anyway, because he hadn't turned up for his lunch break. She really needed to talk to him, she wanted to know everything, she wanted to be everything. Hang on, what? That wasn't a normal thought, that must have been her hearing things. She wanted to be his everything…it sounded so comforting, but it must have been her mind playing tricks on her. It had to be. 4 minutes...why was the time passing so slowly? She glanced at the family clock 'Travelling' was where his arm was pointing. She continued to watch it, as if it would make time go faster. 3 minutes…she was sure her heart would stop beating altogether. 2 minutes…the hand was still moving. 1 minute…she couldn't breath. 'HOME'. The door opened and in stepped Ginny Weasley's brother, his hair was all over the place and he flung his coat on the hanger. She sat stock still and watched him as he took off his shoes and dropped them on the mat, he was still unaware of her presence.

Not anymore. He turned to look at her, his eyes widened and he wiped his face with his hand, his eyes never leaving her own.

"Ron," Was all she managed before he started to walk to the stairs. She shot out of her chair and stood in his path, trying to engage his eyes again, but he wouldn't oblige.

He looked at the floor for several minutes, not wanting to let out a breath, in case it gave him away. But he couldn't keep it up, he moved away from her and pulled out a chair from the table. He say down and placed his hands on the table, he stared at his hands and seemed to be waiting for something. He glanced up at her and she realised he was waiting for her to sit down, so she did, taking the chair opposite him.

"Ginny…" He looked across at her, the sweat on his forehead visible and the different look in his eye even more so.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and watched as his eyes became engulfed with whatever it was he was feeling. "Ron. Tell me what's wrong. Please."

He continued to stare at her, he was trying to think of something to say, explain himself in some way. She stared straight back into his eyes, the same thing in his eyes becoming mirrored in her own. They sat there, she didn't know what was going on in his head, but he was defiantly trying to decide if he should do something or not. And after a few more seconds she found out what it was.

He stood and leant over the table, pressing his lips onto her own with such force she could tell he'd been waiting to do it for some time. She didn't react at first, how could she? Her own brother was kissing her, and with such a passion it scared her. It scared her into kissing him back, because she could feel the same passion inside herself. It felt like she was burning, she hadn't felt such relief before, it felt like she had had these feelings locked up inside her, and they were finally free. She felt his tongue and started to play with it with her own, it didn't make her feel repulsed, because right now he wasn't her brother, he wasn't…he was. She didn't know. He just wasn't, couldn't, be her brother. She wanted to stop it, but she physically couldn't, her body, her lips, wouldn't let her. Suddenly her phone rang and he leapt off her, his face red and his breathing ragged. She stared at him, then grabbed her phone from her pocket and clicked the button. It was Hermione, how did Ginny know it would the frizzy haired woman? And apparently they were both in a dilemma, Hermione couldn't find anything to wear, which was frankly a crap dilemma compared to Ginny's.

"Ginny…" Ron finally spoke, but Ginny had to put her hand up to stop him, as Hermione was still going on about what she should wear.

"Anything, just make sure you're comfortable," She then said goodbye and put the phone down.

_-_-_-_-_-_

Later that night Hermione was going through her closet trying to decide which new outfit to wear.

She tried calling Ginny to get her opinion but all she said was to wear something new and use her instincts for the rest. In fact their conversation had been a quick one, Ginny had been in a rush, of course she hadn't said it, but Hermione had been able to tell. Her guess was that Ginny had a male friend over, because she had heard a male voice say something in the background.

Hermione was getting incredibly irritated with her closet when she finally found just the top to wear. She decided to take a bath to relax, still having some time before Draco would be there. She pulled her hair out of the messy bun, which was a bit of a trademark while she was at work. The hot water was already filling the large tub and the bubbles were getting larger. She slipped her work robe off and started to undress. She slowly stepped into the tub and sat down, letting the bubbles surround her body. As she relaxed in the bubbles she grabbed a book from a table next to her tub. It was "Hogwarts, A History" and started reading it for the thousandth time. Even though she wasn't in Hogwarts anymore she still found the book really interesting. After a while she looked at a clock on the wall. She was about to get out when she heard a knock at the door. She hurried out of the tub, thankful that she didn't slip.

"Hang on, I'll be right there."

The knocking continued so she grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around her body. She pulled the plug from the tub and hurried out of the bathroom. The knocking continued and was getting louder and quicker.

"Hermione, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just hold on a minute."

"Hermione just let me in, people are starring at me from their windows." Hermione couldn't help but to laugh at him. She hurried to the door and let him in. Draco hurried into the room and walked past her.

"Finally. Your neighbours probably think I'm some crazy person."

"Maybe, but does it really matter?"

He laughed it off and finally turned around to look at her. His jaw dropped when he saw that she was in nothing but a towel. Hermione looked down at herself and quickly wrapped her arms around herself.

"Um, Hermione.. Why are you wearing a towel. I don't think that's the best thing to dance in." He grinned at her and her face blushed bright red.

"I-I took a bath. I didn't know you were going to be here early."

"Oh, yeah. I like to be early, more time to cover what we need to do."

"Um, yeah. That's smart."

Draco cleared his throat and walked towards her.

"What are you doing?" She asked with surprise on her face.

"I'm going to sit down while you change. What, did you think I was coming with you?"

Hermione backed toward her bedroom door and started stammering. "Well, um, I , uh, what.." She suddenly turned away and hurried into her bedroom. Draco smirked and laughed quietly to himself. He sat on the couch and tried to think about his mother, he had something that needed to be taken care of.

About five minutes had passed while Hermione was in her room. She finally walked out feeling uncomfortable with herself. Draco stood as soon as he saw her walking from her room, he was shocked as soon as he saw her.

"Wow. New outfit. You look really nice."

Hermione walked closer to him and replied, "Thanks, but it feels odd."

Draco looked her over again and took a step toward her. She was wearing a tight black shirt with purple on the top and short sleeves. The shirt had clasps holding the front together and she was wearing a nice pear of jeans.

"Well take it from me, you look amazing."

She smiled and blushed again before walking past him toward the stereo in the living room. Draco couldn't take his eyes off of her. The back of the top was tied up like a corset would be and added to the look. He walked slowly to the middle of the cleared space in the room. Hermione turned around to face him.

"I don't know what to play. What are you going to show me first."

"Put on a slow song, we'll start slow at first and then move to the faster music." He replied, and she walked over to her stereo and put on a slow song, then walked over to him and stopped not knowing what else to do.

"Okay now put your left hand on my shoulder." He instructed taking her right hand into his left and put his right hand on her waist. She did as he said and put her left arm close to his neck.

"Okay, now let me lead. All you have to do is try to follow. It's fairly simple really."

_-_-_-_-_-_

"Ron?" Ginny opened her brothers bedroom door slowly. He had disappeared when she had finished the phone call and she wanted to find out what the…kiss…had been all about. Ginny stepped into his room to find him sitting on his bed, his back leaning on the wall, a blank stare on his colourless face. She looked around to see most of the furniture had been up-turned, paper and books all over the floor. After taking a pause to compose herself, she stepped further into the room and picked up several pieces of paper and a couple of books, placing them on the small table at the bottom of his bed. Not knowing what else to do, she decided to pick all the things up from the floor. Unaware that he was now watching her.

He ran his hands through his hair roughly, not caring if he pulled it painfully, because in his opinion he deserved it. For example he needed to be punished for his dream, his thoughts. And now his eyes, which were staring at his sisters bum. "For fuck sack! Stop it!" He almost screamed at his younger sister, making her jolt upright and turn to look at him.

"What?" She asked, not knowing what she had done.

Her elder brother looked away from her and put his face in his hands, breathing out loudly. "Just stop picking them up!" He again had his voice raised. Ginny dropped the papers in her hand and they fluttered to the floor some feet away.

"Don't get angry at me, I'm only trying to help." she also began to raise her volume, this wasn't going how she had planned.

Ron stared at her, there was no anger in his face, but there was plenty in his voice. "Well, don't. You're just making it worse…" He trailed off as he realised how harsh he must of sounded. "Crap. Ginny, look, I'm sorry-"

She shook her head "No, Ron. Don't start with me. You are the one that kissed me! I mean, what is going on? I'm your -"

"Sister…I know." It was his turn to interrupt, his expression had transformed into total sorrow and he glanced out the window. Ginny watched him, she could feel herself slipping into his head, her own thoughts matching his. All the little things that passed between them in the last sixteen years came rushing back to her and replayed in her minds eye. Had they meant anything? Of course not, was the answer, they were siblings, things like that were natural every day things. Like brushing hands, hugs, kisses goodbye. How long had Ron wanted to kiss her like that?

She slowly walked to the bed and perched on the end, watching her brother as he slowly twisted to face her. "Ron? I was wondering…how long have you…wanted to…do that?" She decided to just be blunt, beating around the bush wouldn't get them anywhere.

"I-I had a dream, a week ago. But I think it's been b-brewing for a while now." he brushed the perspiration off his forehead and stared as she crossed her slender legs. He wished with all his heart that she wasn't his sister, then none of this would be wrong.

Ginny wasn't sure how to react, to think of it, she had also been thinking strange things. Wanting to be his everything, for example. "Ron, erm…I don't know what to say," she crawled towards him and slumped down next to him, watching as he edged away slightly. "I'm not going to bite, Ronald." she smiled playfully, which just seemed to make him worse.

"Yeah, but I might." he found a safe distance between them and settled again.

They were silent again, and Ginny couldn't help but feel strangely drawn to her brother, they were the youngest two of the family, and they had stuck together since she was born. And the events of the past hour hadn't put her in any position she didn't want to be in. "Ron…I-erm, I don't mind." Was all she could think of saying, because it was true, she didn't mind. She no longer cared, if he was her brother, then so be it. You can't choose who you love and who you fall iin/i love with.

After another lengthy silence, Ron looked up from his lap. "You don't?" He looked surprised and his spirit seemed to rise, even if only for a second. "But, this is wrong. You're my sister. It's so wrong, we can't, I can't, you can't-"

He was stopped. Ginny pressed her finger to his lips and crawled even closer to him, closing the gap completely. He stared with wide eyes, and watched as she slowly replaced her finger with her lips. She cautiously leant forward and pushed him onto his back, deepening the kiss as she did.

"I love you, and that's all I really know."

_-_-_-_-_-_

The next morning on her way to work, Hermione couldn't stop thinking about last night. She actually had fun, when she wasn't falling over. She was right across the street when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She turned with a smile on her face thinking that it was Draco again.

"Draco you...." She stopped short and would have screamed, had a hand not covered her mouth firmly.

"I've finally gotten the untouchable Hermione Granger all to myself."

She didn't recognize the voice and in a very short moment everything went black as she was knocked out.


	5. Prisoner

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated.  
Well, to make up for it, I made this one a long chapter. :)  
Please review and enjoy!

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Chapter Five: Prisoner

Hermione woke up laying on a hard floor and in complete darkness. She couldn't see anything in the room but she decided to try to feel her way around just in case. She stood up very slowly to keep her balance, being in the pitch black made her dizzy.

It of course didn't help that she had a head wound from being knocked unconscious. She could feel the dried blood in her hair and the headache that she knew would last a while, however it wouldn't stop her from trying to get out of the damned place, so after a deep breath she walked as slowly as she could with her arms stretched out in front of her.

When she finally touched a wall, it startled her for a moment before she could compose herself and move closer to put her back against the wall. Moving around the room very slowly with her back firmly pressed to the wall, she noticed that there were no things hanging on them, which at that current moment, pleased her quite a bit. She didn't have to worry about knocking into anything, so when she knocked into a bed and fell on to it face first she started breathing very quickly and her eyes felt like they were open more than they should be. But she didn't care. She just wanted to find a way out.

She moved gently across the bed, trying not to make any noise, and once she felt the edge she carefully stepped off. Immediately she pressed her back against the wall again, where it belonged for the time being, and stood in place trying to catch her breath so she could calmly move on.

It felt like she had been in the room forever, however she knew she hadn't, since she had only been awake in the room for a few minutes.

Finally, she started sliding along the wall again. This time careful not to run into anything else.

When she made it down the length of the wall, she felt a small table in the corner and quietly went around it, keeping her hands in contact with the wall as best she could.

Sooner than she had expected it, she had reached another corner, so she turned smoothly and kept going.

Her hand eventually touched a door knob and she reached down with both hands to turn the handle and yank, but it wouldn't open. It was locked.

She felt around on herself to see if she had her wand, but of course she didn't. This fact scared her more than any other, without her wand, she was basically defenceless. She turned back to the door and started pulling on the handle as hard as she could. She wouldn't accept that she was trapped in a dark room, alone, wandless and scared.

Her thoughts began to wonder wildly, without any direction it seemed. She thought to herself, 'I guess this is my life flashing before my eyes.'

She closed her eyes even though it was dark enough to have no need for it. She squeezed her eyes tighter and tried to focus on the things flashing around in her mind. As she did, tears started to form in her eyes.

Her mind stopped. It was like everything just stopped and stood still for a moment. As quick as it had stopped, it started again but with only one image... Draco.

Hermione started to cry more, even though she didn't fully understand why. She knew she was scared but she also knew it wasn't the reason for it.

She squeezed her eyes even tighter if it was even possible, and tried to focus more on Draco.

He was her friend. A great person, a wonderful friend and an absolutely brilliant wizard.

She pulled as hard as she could on the door knob and as she did, the door opened.

Hermione fell onto her back and hit her head hard enough to make her even dizzier.

She looked up into the doorway. Someone was watching her and she knew it was a man. She sat up and looked into the man's face. The light behind him was so bright and the room was so dark that she couldn't see any of his features. The entire front of the man was black.

"What do want from me?" She asked sternly.

The man laughed a little and took a step forward. "I want you." He replied calmly.

The man pulled a wand from his pocket and waved it at the wall next to the door. Then the man reached over with his hand and flicked on a switch. The light came on so bright that is seemed blinding to Hermione. The switch was hidden by magic.

Hermione looked back at the man and immediately knew who it was.

"Blaize..." It was all she could get out in her shock.

He just gave an evil smile and stepped forward, closing the door behind him.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Ginny opened her eyes slowly; she had been awake for several minutes and had lain there with her eyes firmly closed. There was the warmth of another body next to her, their arms around her stomach, and for the love of Merlin she hoped and prayed it wasn't who she thought it was. Of course Merlin was not on her side today; she slowly sat up and removed her brother's arms from her abdomen, careful not to wake him. Ron didn't even stir as she sat on the edge of his bed, looking down at herself she sighed in relief, she was still wearing her clothes from the night before plus a dark blue shirt that belonged to her brother. His room could get extremely cold at night, even with the warmth of two bodies.

So they hadn't done anything stupid, Ginny had mixed feelings about this, she was glad but disappointed at the same time. The two of them had stayed up till the early hours, talking and snuggling with the occasional kiss, their hopes had raised and they'd enjoyed themselves, Ginny couldn't remember the last time she'd giggled so much.

They had talked about anything and everything, deliberately avoiding their predicament, reminiscing about times when they were younger and laughing at how clumsy Ron had been, in fact still was. Ginny had told him how hard she found it at times, to be the youngest, and he had replied that he knew how she felt, being the youngest boy and all.

As she sat there with a small smile on her face remembering the previous night, there came a shout from below her.

"Ginny? Ron?" it was Harry's voice. Ginny jumped off her brothers bed and glanced quickly at his clock on the bedside table, it said eleven o'clock.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" she whispered to herself in dismay. "Ron! Wake up" she hissed as she threw his shoes at him. Ron sat bolt upright in bed and looked round his room in alarm, on seeing Ginny he looked down at himself then back at her.

"What?" he shrugged as he spoke.

"Harry is here, now! He's coming up the stairs," she rushed to the door and opened it slightly, voices and footsteps could be heard from below, both getting progressively louder.

"Crap!" he leapt out of bed and hurried to her side. "Go out there then," he gave her a push and she went flying out the door, just as Harry appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Ginny! There you are! Where's Ron?" he looked round for Ron, then noticed Ginny wasn't wearing her normal pyjamas, causing a curios expression to cross his face.

"He's coming. Come on, Ronald!" she urged loudly. Ginny soon realized the look on Harry's face and put her arms around her midriff self-consciously. "Working late, you know how it is," she tried to sound calm and collected as she gave an excuse, before he could reply Ron stumbled out of his room pulling on a new shirt.

"Morning, Harry. What brings you here?" Ron spoke in such a relaxed tone Ginny found it almost hard to believe, this was Ron, he was never calm and most certainly never collected.

"Well, uh…you both better come downstairs," suspicion had overridden his sorrow and he surveyed them cautiously before continuing. "I've got some bad news,"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Draco was in a really good mood on his way to work the morning after giving Hermione dance lessons. He was actually surprised that Hermione had agreed to the lessons, but they'd had a lot of fun together, almost too much fun.

His walk had a little bounce to it and he just couldn't stop smiling. Draco didn't notice anything or anyone while he walked; he was enjoying the memories from last night.

When he finally arrived at his office building he came out of his daydreams to see that there were Aurors all over the place. He searched around and finally saw a distressed looking Harry across the lot. After a pause Draco quickly pushed aside anyone in his way until he reached Harry.

"Harry. What's going on?"

Harry Potter turned on his heel to stare at Draco, his face was distraught and anyone could tell that something serious was going on.

"You haven't heard?" Harry whispered more to himself than to Draco.

"Well no, why do you think I'm asking you? Tell me what's going on." As he was talking he noticed that Ron and Ginny were also standing by the building looking very upset, and giving each other uneasy glances.

Draco grabbed Harry's shoulder and started to look around more aggressively.

"Draco calm down, just go wait with Ron and Ginny while I figure out what I can."

"Harry... Where's Hermione?"

Harry shook his head while looking at his feet before finally answering.

"Draco, just go wait with the others... please."

"Please…Harry, just…answer me... "He glanced around one more time before finally continuing in a whisper, "Where's Hermione?"

Harry grabbed Draco by the top of his arm and pulled him aside. When they finally got out of the crowd, Harry let Draco go and he turned his back slowly away from him.

"Hermione has gone missing… We have a witness that saw what happened. We're told that someone knocked her out and took her. Harry paused for a moment, studying his old enemy's reaction. "We don't know who it was but we do know that it was a man. He wasn't seen but the witness heard his voice."

Draco leaned heavily against the brick wall and roughly ran his fingers through his hair.

"Do you have any leads to who it could be?"

Harry shook his head sadly and glanced around.

"We have no idea. There's no trace from whoever took her. All we have is a bit of blood but not enough to think it was a serious wound."

Draco quickly looked up into Harry's face and suddenly looked very angry.

"Hermione was taken, there's no lead, and you find blood which is probably hers, but it isn't serious! Merlin, Harry! How can you say that?"

Harry glanced around again before grabbing Draco by the arm for the second time and pulling him away to a more secluded area of the lot. Harry put his finger to his lips to tell Draco to be quiet.

"Draco, I'm telling you this because you are one of Hermione's best friends, you have the right. This is confidential, no one else can know yet. The ministry is looking into it and we're checking out the witness. Calm down and try to think of anyone that you think might want to harm Hermione."

Draco yanked his arm out of Harry's grip and started to walk away. After just a couple of feet he turned his head back over his shoulder.

"Hey Harry…. Who is the witness?"

Harry hesitated a moment then finally answered, "Parkinson… Pansy Parkinson."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Where do you think she is?" Ron slumped down heavily on the sofa in the Burrow. Ginny paced on the rug in front of him, her hand wiping tiny droplets of sweat off her forehead, Ron had noticed she always did that when she was worried.

"I don't know," she replied after a pause, stopping to glance at him before continuing her route around the rug. She didn't have a clue where Hermione could be, she didn't know anyone that would have wanted to take Hermione from outside her home.

"I think Parkinson is a bit suspicious though, we should interview her again," he conjured a mug of tea for himself and offered her one too, she declined and sat in the armchair next to the warm fire. Perhaps her brother was right, they should interview her again, because to be honest she had acted strangely.

"When do you suppose we do that?" she asked, lifting her legs onto the armchair and bringing them up to her chest.

"Tomorrow, but you need to sleep, you look exhausted," he watched her as she lay her chin on her knees and closed her eyes.

"I guess," her eyes were still closed and she yawned slightly as she spoke. Ron stood and made his way towards her, when she didn't react to his movement he carefully scooped her up in his arms and began the journey up the staircase. She weighed surprisingly little and he hoped her illness hadn't begun to return to her. Ginny had become anorexic during her last year of Hogwarts, it had been a serious scare for the whole family as she was taken to St Mungo's twice, her lowest point had been when she weighed a miniscule 50 pounds. She had looked like she was wasting away and Ron had never been able to get the horrible image of her out of his head.

Ron finally reached his bedroom and pushed open the door with his foot, he placed his sister softly on the bed and leant down to kiss her, as he did she opened her eyes and kissed him on the mouth firmly. He was shocked at first and tempted to pull away, but after a second he couldn't bring himself to do it and he kissed her back, careful to be gentle with her. Once he couldn't breathe properly anymore he pulled away and looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"What was that for?" he sat down on the bed beside her and began to stroke her hair, she closed her eyes again with a smile on her face.

"Cause I love you," he only just heard her as she was very close to falling asleep now, he grinned at her reply and kissed her head gently. He continued to stroke her hair until her breathing turned into quiet snores, he then scooted into the bed beside her and lay down facing her. She was so beautiful, this was the perfect time for him to look at her and study every tiny freckle on her smooth face. After a while his eyes began to droop and he finally fell asleep along side his sister.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Hermione laid on the bed in the dark with both of her hands tied together above her head.

She could already feel the bruises forming on her body and her clothes were wet with blood.

She had unfortunately spent the day being cursed by Blaize and had a feeling that tomorrow would be worse.

Hermione turned her body as well as she could and sat up facing her tied hands. She quickly tried to untie the rope and after about 10 minutes of trying she finally quit. The ropes were cursed to stay tied until the same person who cast the spell wants it untied.

Hermione sat in silence unmoving for a while before she finally lay down and rolled herself into a small human ball. She began thinking about her friends… Harry and how many times he saved the world from Voldemort… Ron and the way she used to feel about him while they were in Hogwarts, something that they tried for a while but didn't work out… Ginny and how they have girl talks, well how Ginny talks about girl stuff to Hermione. Draco…

As she thought the name she felt herself change but in what way, she didn't know. She realized that she missed him the most even though he was the last person she saw before being captured. She felt tears starting to form in her eyes and couldn't help but let them fall.

She was going to die here and she knew it, she just didn't know when.

She started thinking about all the horrific things that Blaize would probably do to her and she started to cry even more franticly. She was so terrified that she was going to die, she didn't think there was a possibility she would survive.

When she finished with that last thought she began thinking about Draco again. She didn't want to die without seeing him again. She didn't know why it was just him and not the rest of her friends but she just guessed it was because they were closer than the others.

'That's what it has to be.' She thought to herself.

She thought back on all of her memories of Draco and finally stopped crying.

"I'm not going to die like this, a coward who cries and begs to be released." She whispered to herself.

"I _will_ see you again, if it's the last thing I ever do."

She wiped her tears away and told herself that as long as she was prisoner, she would never cry again. She felt herself get very determined and angry, after all that's what she would need to survive what was in store for her.

The next day, or so she thought, Blaize came back to the dark bedroom for Hermione. He pulled her out of the room and down the hall like last time but instead of being afraid, she stood tall and was ready to take whatever he threw at her.


	6. Darkness

**Chapter Six: Darkness**

The room Blaize brought her to was dark like the bedroom, but it was oddly comforting to her, she figured if she couldn't see all the blood then it wouldn't be so bad. Blaize decided that he would use non magical means to hurt her this time, last time he used his wand. He had all sorts of knives and other brute objects to use on her, but before any of that he cursed the rope onto a large hanging hook from the ceiling so she was dangling from her wrists, which was painful on its own.

Hermione could feel the rope digging into her skin and could already feel the bruises beginning to form on top of the ones from last time. Her toes barely touched the floor which she was thankful for, and she couldn't feel as much of the blood on the ground that way.

Blaize started to cut up her clothes with one of the knives but didn't pull them off, Hermione could feel little cuts forming everywhere the knife had been. She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as they would go and waited for the worst but it never came.

She opened her eyes and everything had gone pitch black. The entire room was darkness. She opened her eyes wide trying to see something, anything.

She suddenly felt and painful blow to her face and screamed at the contact.

"I thought it would be more fun if you couldn't see where the blow was coming from. Also I don't really know where I'm going to hurt you so it makes it a nice little surprise for me too."

Hermione winced at the sound of his voice, her head felt like it was exploding from when he captured her and now from being punched brutally in the face.

She hung for a few minutes in complete quiet until she felt the next blow; a knife to the muscle in her thigh. She couldn't keep the cry from escaping her chapped lips, but she kept her tears tight in her eyes.

As he pulled the knife from her leg she let out another howl of pain. Immediately she could feel the drops of blood running down her leg and tried not to worry about how fast it was coming out of her.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After hours, she guessed, she was covered in fresh bruises and coated in her own blood. When he finally let her down from the hook she let out a gasp of pain from having her arms tied above her for so long. She could hardly walk but did her best as Blaize pulled her along the hallway, the hall lights were off too and it was just as dark as the only two rooms she had been in.

Blaize pushed her onto the bed as soon as he could and threw a curse on the door. He didn't bother cursing the rope and slammed the door on his way out.

Hermione, still in darkness, sat up on the bed and quickly untied her wrists. As soon as the rope was off she started rubbing the pain away. Every bump, bruise and cut could be felt on her skin. She was sickened at what she felt and surprised her heart was still beating.

Hermione slowly stood on her feet and weakly made her way to the door. Just as she made it about a foot away she was flung back and slammed into the opposite wall by the bed. She fell down and landed on her back unconscious.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Ginny couldn't have felt more guilty. She was meant to be helping look for Hermione, but she was just getting wrapped up in her brother. Hermione was her best friend and Ginny wasn't doing anything to help find her, nothing at all. She was busy sleeping in her brothers bed every night, listening to his breathing as he watched her pretend to sleep, and she felt even more guilty knowing it was her brother of all people.

She sat curled up on the sofa, she really needed Hermione, to tell her everything was going to be alright, to tell her everything would be ok. But Hermione was missing, and she felt that there was nothing she could do, she was going to interview Parkinson, but that was all she was doing. It wasn't enough. She let her tears run down her face, Ginny hated to cry but sometimes it was necessary, or she just couldn't hold it in any longer. This was one of those times.

She didn't know how long she'd been sat there until he came through the door. He stopped dead in his tracks, frozen like an ice sculpture, his face turning from a look of tiredness to a terrified and distraught look, within three seconds.

"Ginny?" he dropped his bags to the floor and sat next to her, taking her in his arms immediately. "What's wrong?" he held her head to his chest firmly and stroked her hair, she let out a loud sob and thrust her arms around his stomach, she held on so tightly she was sure he wouldn't be able to breathe. Every second that passed made her pull him tighter to her, she breathed him in and felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders, he was with her now and nothing else mattered.

"I should be helping look for Hermione!" she pulled away and punched him on the arm as hard as she could, once the first blow hit she did it again, and again. Ron sat and took the blows, knowing if it was helping her then he'd have to take it, and he knew it was probably his fault she was upset anyway. Once she was too tiered to go on she slumped against him and nuzzled her face into his neck, kissing up and down it softly, letting all the love pour out of her and into him.

"I'm sorry," he pushed her away gently and looked deep into her eyes, she could see her own feelings reflected in his blue eyes and decided there and then that she wanted him. Wanted him more than anything in the entire world.

"Ron, I need you, I need her," she kissed his neck again, but more roughly this time, letting him know what she wanted.

"We'll find her, don't worry," he kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him.

"I really need you. Now," Ginny pulled him onto the floor and kissed the corner of his mouth.

"Are you sure?" he asked worriedly, she pulled her green jumper over her head to expose her bra and breasts.

"Yes, Ron, I am sure. Please, I love you," she had a look of desperation in her eyes and he wondered if it was him she needed, or the sex.

"Ok…" he pushed her carefully onto her back, as if she were some expensive artifact, she felt her head touch the floor and she looked into his eyes which were inches from her own. He ran his fingers over her cheek and into her hair, bringing her head slowly up to meet his, he kissed her with such love she couldn't digest it. She couldn't explain how it felt, she felt like she was no longer on the planet, like she was floating in space with a pulse running through her whole body. "Ginny…" he smiled slightly and shifted his weight, careful not to squash her. He kissed her neck in several spots before backing away and capturing her eyes with his, the most intense and loving look his eyes had ever bared.

"Ron?" she grinned at him, and pecked his cheek quickly, a small giggle escaping her lips.

"Ginny, I love you," Ron tucked some hair behind her ear and surveyed all the freckles on her forehead, she giggled again.

"I know you do, you have to," she went to hit him playfully on the shoulder but he stopped her by taking her hand in his and kissing it delicately.

"No, I mean it. Even if you weren't my sister," he held on to her hand tightly, never taking his eyes off hers. She was in shock, it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.

"I love you too, Ron. Even if you weren't my brother," it could have been the weirdest thing she ever said, but at that moment she didn't care.

"Ready?" he kept his hold on her hand and she nodded, squeezing it with her new found fear. Ginny nodded and closed her eyes, she felt him take his trousers off and her pants. Then it happened. The youngest Weasley's mind evaporated into thin air, apart from the last little fragment which was still transfixed on her brothers hand…never letting go.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Draco was sitting on a chair in his flat, all the lights were turned off and the blinds were closed on every window. If there was any light in the flat, he got rid of it. When Potter told him who the witness was he immediately knew who was most likely to have Hermione. That person was Blaize Zabini. He had heard about the things Blaize was doing to women and knew that right about now Hermione was probably spending all her time in darkness, so he was going to spend his in the dark too, until she was rescued.

He of course told Harry all that he knew, but without some kind of evidence they couldn't just bust into someone's house. When he heard this, Draco got pissed off and in the end was escorted out of the ministry.

Turns out that when you raise your voice at an Auror and start yelling profanities at them, things don't go very well for you.

So now here he was, sitting in the dark trying to come up with a way to help Hermione.  
He knew that if someone didn't get to her within a couple of days he would never see her alive again.

He tried thinking up plans to rescue her but he knew that none of them would work, he would have to go in alone if he wanted to save her, and he didn't know what kind of chance he would have. The others wouldn't be able to help; they were too big in the public eye and just about always had someone trying to get a good story out of them.

He also knew the only plan was no plan at all; he just needed to bust in and do what he could. He just needed some time to prepare, in case things don't go as wall as he hopes. He decided to begin with studying up on Blaize and how he does things.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Ginny strode down the corridor beside her brother and arrived outside interview room 1 in the Ministry, Harry stepped out of the door and greeted them with a weary smile.

"She's ready when you are," he gestured for them to enter the room and they both nodded their thanks before passing him and entering the room. It had four white walls and one steel table in the middle of the room, three chairs were arranged around the table, one already occupied with the other two sat opposite it waiting. Ron lead the way and took his chair, Ginny followed suit and sat next to him, her eyes surveying Pansy Parkinson who sat across from them. Pansy was wearing a white collared shirt and a black pencil skirt, her lips wore bright red lipstick and her eyelashes were caked in mascara.

"Parkinson, I'll guess you know why you're here," Ron studied her closely and she nodded in reply. "Ok, so tell me what exactly you saw on the 27th of May at ten to eight," there was silence for a minute as Pansy surveyed them both in depth.

"Can I ask you two a question first?" she finally spoke, leaning forward and placing her chin elegantly on the palm of her hand.

"If you must," Ron glanced at his sister cautiously before awaiting Pansy's question.

"How long have you two been fucking?" it took Ron by such surprise he nearly fell off his chair, and Ginny could feel her throat beginning to close.

"Ex-excuse me?" Ron managed to get out, his eyes wide and his mouth open even wider.

"Don't try to lie, I can tell" she examined her red nails closely while leaning back on her chair with a bored but entertained expression on her face.

"We don't know what you're talking about, now we're here to ask you questions, not the other way round!" Ginny snapped angrily, banging her hand sharply on the table and making it emit a loud bang. Anger boiled up inside her, how dare the woman in front of her say such a thing, Ginny was ready to explode.

"Calm down," Ron muttered in her direction. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, which relaxed her a little so she continued.

"Right. Parkinson, where exactly were you when you saw Hermione being abducted?" Ginny crossed her arms firmly and glared at Pansy sternly.

"I was walking along the path across the road from her,"

"And what did you see?" Ron asked, surveying Pansy closely for any tell tale signs.

"She stepped out of her door, locked it, then began to walk down the street. She got a few feet when some man covered her mouth and knocked her out," Pansy sounded bored and wasn't being very helpful at all, they needed details, tiny details.

"What did this man look like?" Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from screaming.

"I couldn't see him very well, he had a hood up. He was about 6 foot and was wearing jeans and a rain coat," she examined her nail bed again, still showing no interest in anything she was saying.

"Which way did he take her?"

"Right, the opposite way that I was going," she said with a matter of fact tone Ginny was beginning to find unbelievably irritating.

"Did you not think to help her? Or get someone else who could help?" Ginny couldn't believe she had to ask it, but Parkinson wouldn't have been thinking of anyone but herself.

"No, I didn't realise what I'd seen until it was too late," she seemed to think her answers were the most obvious thing in the world and the Weasley siblings were idiots to be asking them.

"Ok, well is that everything you remember?" Ron leant forward and rested his elbows on the table, a few seconds later Pansy did the same.

"Yes," she rolled her eyes before glancing between the two again. "You two are so obvious, it's written all over your faces," she smirked the Slytherin trademark, showing her blatant enjoyment.

"We really don't know what you're talking about. You can go," Ginny pushed her chair back and stood up, trying her hardest to take everything written on her face off. Pansy followed suit and as Ginny opened the door stepped out of it, just before disappearing she turned.

"Let's hope no one finds out, it's against the law isn't it? Incest…" with that she was gone. Ginny closed the door and leant her back against it, her head fell back slightly and she closed her eyes, letting out a relieved sigh. Ron was sat completely still at the table, no muscles moving an inch and almost no breath passing his lips.

"Ginny," he finally broke the silence like a knife to bread, roughly and toughly.

"Yeah?" she opened her eyes and tilted her head forward to look at him.

"We're fucked."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Hermione finally awoke to the sound of metal rubbing against each other. She opened her eyes and wasn't surprised by the fact that she was still in darkness. The only bit of light was an orange glow from behind her and she knew by the sounds that it was a fire.

"Tonight my Hermione, we will be experiencing the touch of fire." He chuckled.

Hermione cringed and closed her eyes again. "How do you expect me to survive all of this? I'm going to die before you can even finish with me."

Hermione almost regretted what she said when she felt a wand against her back but she was relieved to have the feeling of healing cover her body.

"You're right of course. I can't expect one person to live through all of this destruction. So now you have a spell on you to make you survive… well as long as I want you to anyway."

Hermione could almost feel the grin in the air as he said this to her. What he didn't know, is that she was grinning to. She had what she wanted, he postponed her death and that's all she needed while she waited to see Draco again.

She didn't know how she knew but she had a feeling that she would see Draco again before she died and that's all she asked for.

Her grin quickly went away with a scream from a hot poker being pressed against her back. She could smell her flesh being burned and knew this would be the worst of all her days in darkness.


	7. Draco

Chapter Seven: Draco

He finally exited the dark building while holding Hermione in his arms. They were finally out and she was safe. He laid her down in the soft grass and cast a spell to wake her.  
Her eyes opened wide for a moment and looked around her, she raised her arm to the sky and tried to block the sun from her face; it was too bright for her eyes after all the time in the dark.

She finally turned her head to the side to look at him while he slowly sat down beside her.

"I knew I would see you again." She showed a small grin.

"Of course you would, I could never leave you in a place like that."

She closed her eyes again and fell back into unconsciousness. Blood started to run out of various wounds and he knew she didn't have much longer. He grabbed her as well as he could and apparated to St. Mungos.

When he arrived, carrying Hermione again, all the nurses ran over to help out. They immediately took her into custody and got a doctor to help out.

Draco was forced to stay in the waiting room and sat like stone for hours just hoping that the worst wouldn't come.

* * *

Flashback: The escape

He was ready, today was the day he was going to see Hermione again. Draco gathered the things he needed and rushed to apparate, he knew that today was his last chance to save her if he could.

He arrived at a large house and immediately started for the front door. He figured that if he was going to make an entrance, why not do it at the front door.

As soon as someone started opening the door, Draco kicked the door in and rushed into the house while he still had surprise. The man who answered the door was on the ground knocked unconscious by the blow. He rushed into the next room where two men were just getting out of their chairs to check out the noise.

Draco quickly cursed both of them and they fell to the ground, similar to the man at the door. Draco was in such a rush that he didn't even stop to make sure the curses connected with the targets.

Draco finally made it to the basement and just as he went to go through the doorway he was thrown back by a spell. He got to his feet quickly and looked around himself. No one was there.

He looked down at the doorway and knew it was cursed so people couldn't enter and interrupt. He stepped forward and whispered a few spells until the doorway lit up and disappeared.

He slowly stepped through the doorway to make sure it was safe and when it was he picked up his quick pace again. He ran through the doorway and the more he went the closer the sound of screaming was.

When he was close enough to feel his skin crawl, the screaming suddenly stopped. He sped up in worry and finally reached a closed door toward the end of the hall. He kicked it down like the front door and stepped through.

What he saw was beyond imagining. Hermione was passed out as she hung from a hook in the ceiling and Blaize was standing in front of her with a large wooden bat which he guessed just got broken in the last swing against Hermione.

Blaize pulled out his wand so fast that Draco hardly saw it happen. Draco lit the tip of his wand and walked further into the room.

Blaize lowered his wand a little and spoke to Draco, "Ah, Draco, it's you my old friend. What brings you here? Do you want part of the action?"

Blaize grinned evilly at Draco and started chuckling to himself.

"Blaize, put your wand down or I'll have to do something you will regret." Draco said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot." He grunted, "You like mudbloods now don't you… especially this one."

Blaize pointed his wand at Hermione and before he knew it he was on the cold ground.

"Let her go Blaize and I won't have to do anything to hurt you!" Draco shouted.

Bliaze laughed loudly this time. "You know that's not the way this will go."

Just as he finished the sentence he flung a curse at Draco.

Draco blocked the curse and threw one back at Blaize which connected on his chest.

Blaize flew back landing hard against the wall. Draco ran at him and started throwing curses between beating him with his fists and knees.

Behind them, Draco heard Hermione moan and as he turned, Blaise sent a curse that made Draco fall to the ground in pain.

While he was down, Blaize apparated with a loud crack and all the darkness disappeared.

Draco was finally able to really see Hermione and what he saw made him want to jump off a cliff just so he wouldn't have to see the woman he loves in this state of agony.

He grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her off the hook in the ceiling and lay her down on the ground.

"Hermione. Hermione! Wake up!"

He heard a crumbling noise and looked around the room. The room was beginning to break down. He scooped Hermione into his arms and tried to apparate away. It didn't work.

He started running as fast as he could to get out of the house. Everything was crumbling behind him as he ran and he was being hit by things falling to close to him.

When he finally reached the doorway he jumped the best he could while carrying someone.

He finally exited the dark building while holding Hermione in his arms.

End Flashback.

* * *

After hours of waiting, a nurse finally called Draco from the waiting room. He stood up quickly and rushed over to the nurse at the door.

"How is she, she's alright isn't she. She has to be alright."

"Calm down Mr. Malfoy, she will be fine. She was of course beat up pretty badly and it will take time to heal. She is sleeping now but when she wakes, we will owl you with our quickest owl."

"That's not good enough. I'm staying here; I'll stay the night if I have to." Draco looked very stern as he said this to the woman.

"Now listen here, I know you must care for her a lot and I understand but there's no point in staying overnight. We will owl you. You have already been here for too long as it is. Go home, get rest and you will see her tomorrow. I promise." The nurse nodded her head at him and walked back through the door.

Draco slowly turned and apparated back to his flat like the nurse had told him. He sat on his couch a while before finally writing letters to Harry, Ron and Ginny stating what has happened and to meet him at the hospital at ten in the morning to see Hermione. He sent out the owls he had and finally lay down for the night.


	8. Awake

Chapter Eight: Awake

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy, I figured you would get here early." She grinned as she spoke.

"Is she awake?" He asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, she isn't but you may come in to see her if you'd like."  
He hurriedly walked toward her and she moved out of his way as he walked past.

"To the right Mr. Malfoy." She pointed with her finger in the direction he was supposed to go.

"I'll show you, there's no rush." She walked past him to show him the way.

Draco was walking impatiently behind the nurse as they went through the long hallway. Draco didn't like being in the hospital, it reminded him of the war but he was here to see Hermione and that was all that mattered.

Finally they reached a closed door and she gestured for him to go in, then she slowly walked away.

He pushed the door open as quietly as he could and walked into the bright room. He walked across the room and sat in a large chair next to the bed Hermione was laying in.

He peered down at her and could see a significant change from when he saved her, she looked a lot healthier but still painfully hurt.

He pushed a stray hair away from her face and didn't like what he saw. She had a very large nasty looking bruise. He leaned back and felt very angry. He needed someone to strangle to death but that person had disappeared.

He sighed loudly and sat back up to look at Hermione's face again. He was surprised to see that she was awake and looking at him.

"You're awake." He said dumbfounded.

"So it seems." She whispered in a raspy voice. She was obviously strangled at some point by Blaize.

"I'm really happy to see you again. For a while I didn't think I would." She smiled weakly then continued, "I suppose I was wrong huh?" She tried to chuckle through the pain.

Obviously she had been scared and was trying to cover it up.  
She glanced away for a moment then sat up slowly in the bed.  
"Hermione don't push yourself, lay back down." Draco held onto her as she sat up.  
"No, I'm fine. These lights are just really bright. I could use some sunglasses." She smirked at him.

"I could turn off the lights if you want, if the lights are to …"

She interrupted him before he could finish the sentence, "No!... I mean, it's fine; it will just take some getting used to. Don't worry about it."

"Uh Okay, well I'll work on getting those sunglasses for you then." He grinned back at her and she calmed down.

She lay back down and grinned up at Draco. "Thanks but hopefully I will be out of here soon enough to get them myself."

They talked calmly in the hospital room for a couple of hours until their other three friends arrived. They rushed in past the nurse and hurried over to Hermione's bed.  
"Sorry to say this but only three at a time." The nurse said while looking at Draco.

Hermione looked up to Draco who just stood up to leave.  
"You have to go?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah, but just for a little while, don't worry I'll be back really soon." He smiled down at her and walked out of the room unwillingly...

Ginny took Draco's place and observed Hermione as she watched him leave the room, there was something familiar about the look on Hermione's face. Once the door had closed Harry kissed Hermione's forehead and hugged her, careful not to hurt her, Ron then stepped forward and did the same. Ginny watched closely, she was sure her eyes were probably green with envy and she cursed herself inwardly for thinking such things.

Hermione then turned towards Ginny, who smiled and leant forward to kiss her ill best friends cheek. All in the room was silent as each of the guests thought of something to say, none coming up with a suitable option. However as they thought about this, Hermione was glancing discreetly between the two Weasley siblings, something wasn't't quite right, well normal at least, nothing was ever right with them. She could tell Ron was trying his hardest not to look at his sister, and Ginny was attempting to busy herself with a strand of hair, which was what she did when she was apprehensive about something.

"So, erm, how are you feeling?" Ron was the first to speak, but he wished he hadn't as Harry and Ginny gave him a look that said 'Are you an idiot?'. "Sorry, stupid question," he glanced at the other two before looking into his lap feeling slightly more stupid than normal.

"It's fine. I'm feeling…" she searched around for the right word, one that wouldn't't make him feel any worse. "Better. Thank you," she beamed at him and he looked up at her with a weak smile. There was another silence, filled with a tension that had never been felt between the four of them before, Hermione guessed it was because of the situation, but there seemed to be something else hidden under the surface.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry," Harry pulled his chair nearer the bed and took Hermione's hands.

"What for?" she asked, she supposed she was the one asking stupid questions now.

"Everything. We should have found you sooner," he put his forehead on their clasped hands and stared at the white linoleum flooring.

"Harry, don't be ridiculous. I'm sure you did what you could," she took her hands from his grasp and made him look at her.

"We should have been quicker," he casts his eyes downwards and let the feeling of guilt take over, like it had after the war.

"Harry! Listen to me," she grabbed his shoulders and made him look her in the eye. "You did all you could, and I'm fine. Your team of Aurors are the best, and you did all you could, you had rules to follow. I don't blame you at all, ok?" she gave him her usual stern look, and after a moment he sighed and nodded.

"That's what I told him," Ginny commented, Hermione only then remembered Ginny was there, she had been strangely quiet since they arrived.

Harry sat back down quietly; not having any more to say on the matter, he knew arguing with Hermione was a pointless thing to do. Once more, total quiet engulfed them, and Hermione continued to regard the two red heads, something had to be done, all tension seemed to radiate off them like heat from a fire.

"Harry? Could you get me a drink, please?" she asked sweetly, all three of them turned to face her and she looked to Harry for his answer.

"Yeah, sure. Water?" he stood from his seat, Hermione nodded and he glanced at the other two before turning and leaving the room.

Hermione waited till the door closed then straightened in the bed; she cleared her throat and felt determined to find out what was going on.

"So…what's with the tension?" she looked from Ron to Ginny, she wasn't't sure who would dare answer first, the ball was in their park.

"Tension? What tension? Maybe you should get some sleep, Hermione. You've had a bit too much excitement for one day I think," Ron had chosen to hit the ball, of course it wasn't't a very good hit, and he had paid for it with the look Ginny now shot at him.

"I'm not a baby, Ronald, or stupid for that matter. You're both sending it out like heat waves, so just tell me," she crossed her arms and waited for an answer, none of which came for a while.

"It's nothing, Hermione. He-erm-he just stumbled in on me getting out of the shower earlier, uncomfortable, you know?" Ginny gave Ron an uncertain look then turned to Hermione with bright red cheeks. Perhaps she was telling the truth, Hermione thought.

"Is that it?" Hermione uncrossed her arms and shook her head slightly.

"What do you mean 'Is that it?'? It's bloody embarrassing," Ron's ears were going the same color as Ginny's cheeks and Hermione guessed that they were telling the truth. But not the whole truth.

"Ok then," Hermione couldn't't help but giggle slightly. "Well, I think I might have that sleep you suggested, Ron" she lay back down and closed her eyes lightly; she heard the two of them move to get up and she shot up again. "No! Don't go! Erm, please…stay a bit longer," she felt her own cheeks turning red this time.

"Ok, don't worry. We'll stay," Ron stayed firmly in his seat, while Ginny moved and sat on the arm of it with him.

"We're right here," Ginny smiled soothingly and Hermione closed her eyes again, listening to her two friends quickened breaths. What Hermione didn't't hear was Ron take his sister's hand and squeeze it softly.

After about ten minutes Ginny leant forward to see Hermione's eyes shut tightly, her chest moving up and down steadily.

"I think she's asleep," Ginny sat back and felt her brother let go of her hand, she turned to look at him as he stood up, making his face level with hers.

"Good," he grinned and paused for a moment, listening for any noises from Hermione. There were none, so he kissed her tenderly, Ginny pushed him away gently and he stopped, looking at her questioningly. "What?" he asked looking a little confused.

"Not here, not now" she peered over his shoulder at Hermione, her eyes were still closed and she was beginning to make loud breathing noises, not quite snoring.

"For Merlin's sake Ginny! This is driving me crazy!" he stepped away from her aggressively and ran his hands through his fiery hair.

"Hang on, it was you who didn't't want to start this, and now you want to tell everyone? You heard what Parkinson said. Don't get angry with me, you're the messed up one," she jumped off the arm of the chair and glanced at Hermione to make sure Ron hadn't disturbed her.

"Me? Ginny, you are too, we both are. We're brother and sister, and we've had sex. Last time I checked, that made anyone messed up," he hissed at her, his tone was harsh and Ginny didn't't like it, she had never liked an angry Ron.

"Ron, please…don't," she looked at him pleadingly, she hated fighting with him, and she was sure he hated it too.

"Fine," he stormed to the door and yanked it open. "I'll see you at home," and with that, he was gone. Ginny stared after him before slumping onto the chair and put her face in her hands. She couldn't't help but start to cry.

The green hospital room was quiet and all but one light was turned out. The light above Hermione's head was on and it shined over Hermione and let the rest of the room fall into light darkness.

Hermione woke with a start, breathing hard. She looked around the room and immediately panicked.

"Draco! Where are you? I can't be here by myself. Somebody!" She was screaming and her body was shacking in fear.

"What? What's happening?"  
Draco sat up and glanced at Hermione. He stood up quickly and hurried to Hermione's side.

"Hermione, I'm right here."

"You were gone, you left me here alone."

"No I didn't, Hermione look at me."

He grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. They stared at each other until Hermione was finally calm again. Draco let go of her face and sighed to himself. He brushed his hair back with his hand as he turned away.

"I can't believe I just freaked out like that." Hermione chuckled to herself as she sat back in the bed. Draco sat into the chair next to the bed and leaned back, his head dropping over the top.

"It's normal; you've been through something very traumatic. It will happen for a while until it just doesn't. You're fine Hermione."

"I just… I don't like being alone anymore…" She trailed off and looked away.  
Draco grinned and took Hermione's hand in his own.

"I'm right here. I'll always be here. Hermione… I'll be with you forever."


	9. Hermione Who?

Chapter Nine: Hermione Who?

One Week Later…

"Hermione, please stay longer. You still have some healing to do." Hermione and Draco were walking down the long hallway of the hospital. He turned and grabbed Hermione lightly by the arms to stop her. "Think of what you're doing." Hermione shook his hands off and put on a stern face.

"I'm fine. Look at me, I'll be okay. I can heal at home just as well as I can here." Draco was the one to give the stern look now. He hated that she wouldn't listen to him about this. "Draco, I just want to go home. Please… take me home." He knew that he'd lost, so stepped next to her and slowly took her hand in his own.

He sighed loudly, "Alright, let's go."

Hermione smiled as they started walking forward together. She had won and she was happy to be headed home. She couldn't take this hospital anymore. The blue walls, the way-too-nice nurses and the awful food were getting very aggravating.

When they finally reached Hermione's home, she was so excited she could hardly contain it. She pulled out her keys but because of her overwhelming excitement, dropped them from her shaking hand.

Draco bent down and retrieved the keys for her. He unlocked the door and they moved into the flat side by side.

_-_-_-_-_-

Ron hadn't spoken more than five words to her in three days, and Ginny was finding it hard to cope. Since she had returned from St Mungos he had been steering clear of her as much as possible. Annoying her greatly. And to make it worse she was feeling increasingly ill with each day, spending many hours of her day puking in the bathroom. No food had entered her system in days yet she still felt completely full all the time.

Her brother was no help, he perplexed her as well as irritating her. Each day he would pretend she didn't exist then each night still climb into her bed. Only to sleep, but it still didn't make sense. However, she always looked forward to the time of night that he'd peer into her room and on seeing her eyes closed get in next to her. The comfort and safeness he provided was overwhelmingly calming. She was never really asleep of course, but she guessed he probably knew that. There was a war inside her every time he climbed in, she wanted to say something to him. But her lips wouldn't part to let the words through. Telling him to get out seemed optional, asking him what he was doing was another possibility.

It had just gone midnight when he came in this time. Ginny Weasley was lying peacefully in her bed, facing the door curled up in a ball. Ron could feel his heart beat begin to quicken as he watched her breath in and out. How was he meant to get in now? She was in the way. He thought for a moment before deciding to climbing carefully round her and lay near the wall. So as quietly as he could he made his way to the bed and crawled round her feet to the other side, wishing her bed was bigger. Slumping on his back, he let out a sigh. It felt better now, it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Nothing mattered while he was hear, all concentration was on her breathing. Making sure she was still breathing.

"Ron…what are you doing?" he nearly did stop breathing then. Ginny shifted slightly but kept her back to him, sniffing loudly as she did. He didn't know how to answer, to be honest he didn't know the answer.

"I-erm…I like your bed better than mine," Ginny snorted and he couldn't help but snigger at his pathetic answer.

"Still crap at lying then," she turned to face him and he got a proper look at her for the first time in days. Ginny was drained, her face was pale and her eyes were red.

_-_-_-_-_-

3 days later…

"Hermione, come on. You've been in your room for days, please come out." Draco was finally giving up on banging at her always locked door and decided to try talking to her. Hermione was laying in her bed with all of her lights on, but the window shades drawn closed. She had a blank expression on her face along with many healing bruises. When Draco brought her home from the hospital she went to bed for some sleep and just didn't come back out.

Draco slept on the couch every night and never left Hermione, he had promised after all. Draco gave up on trying to get her out of her room, so he moved on into the bathroom down the hall.

Hermione heard a loud bang reverberate through the house and a short yelp from Draco.

She sat up quickly and threw off her covers. Sitting there for a second trying to decide what to do. She really wanted to see if Draco was alright but was afraid to leave her room.

She decided on the first, rushing to the door and yanking it open. It took her only a moment before she burst into the bathroom to see Draco.

He was laying on the floor half naked. "What happened?" Hermione asked lightly. Draco was shocked to see her out of her room, but explained anyway.

"I fell, sorry I disturbed you… finally." He glanced away and sat up, he stood slowly then just waited there in silence.

"Are you alright?" She asked even quieter.

He still didn't look her in the face, "Yeah, I got the floor wet and slid."

"Oh."

"You know, you should try to take a shower or something while you're out here." Hermione turned to leave and Draco followed, when he saw where she was headed he sped past her and beat her to the location: her room.

"Come on Hermione, you can't just hide in here forever." She turned away and sat on her bed. They both agreed to silence for what felt like years before Hermione finally replied.

"I'm scared. I don't know what to do." Draco walked around to stand in front of her and took her hands in his own. Hermione looked up into his face and he pulled her slowly up into a hug.

"I'm going to take care of you Hermione, you don't have to worry about anything. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise never to hurt you and I promise that I will never leave you." He pulled back slightly and kissed the top of her head.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Okay?" Hermione nodded and Draco walked toward the door.

"Wait. Don't go, stay with me."

"Alright. Uh, just put on a swimming suit and I'll take care of you." She was silent but he knew she would do it. Hermione opened a drawer and pulled out a plain non-sexy suit and started stripping, pulling off one piece of clothing after another until she was completely naked. She stood naked for a minute trying to think of… something, anything. She knew that Draco could turn and see her any second. She didn't care. If she was herself, he wouldn't have even been in the same room. But she wasn't herself, so who was she?

She had no idea. All she knew was that when she tried to be herself, it hurt.

_-_-_-_-_-_-

Harry knocked on the Burrow kitchen door, a feeling of dread pulsing through his veins. Why did he have to listen to Parkinson? She was obviously lying, no truth ever came from her bright red lips. He didn't know what to expect when she'd requested to see him yesterday, but it could have been something important that would point them to Zabini's whereabouts. Something he couldn't afford to miss. However, all she had wanted to do was talk bullshit about Ron and Ginny. Parkinson seemed to believe that Ron and Ginny were engaging in sexual relations. The thought made him feel physically sick. It must have been lies, all lies. For one, they wouldn't do such a thing, they would know it was wrong. And secondly, it was against the law. It was incest.

He knocked again when there was no answer. After yet another few minutes of silence he pushed the door open, to reveal an empty kitchen. The whole Burrow was eerily quiet, Harry cautiously stepped forward with his ears pricked up like a prowling fox. He ascended the stairs with one hand on the banister and other wrapped round his wand. As he got closer to Ginny's room the sounds of voices became audible, the very voices he was hoping not to hear. Harry stood stock still outside the door, Ginny was laughing, then the laughing stopped.

"Ron…don't. Don't!" Harry burst through the door as Ginny spoke, she'd sounded distressed. There sat Ginny and Ron on the bed, Ron had his hand high up on Ginny's thigh, and she was holding it while her other hand was on his chest. It could have been viewed in two ways: It could have looked like Ginny was pushing Ron away, or it could have looked the opposite.

"Ron, what are you doing?" Harry didn't really wait for an answer, he grabbed Ginny and pulled her away. "Get off her!" Ginny thrashed against Harry and his anger turned to confusion.

"Harry! It's fine, he wasn't doing anything!" Ginny pulled her arm from his grip and stood back with Ron. Harry surveyed his two best friends, dread engulfing his senses.

"What-what were you doing? Why was his-" Harry didn't finish the sentence, he already knew the answer. His worst fears had been confirmed. He didn't want to believe it, but it was standing right in front of him-staring him in the face.

"Don't go mental, mate-"

"Don't call me mate,"

"Harry, please. We're sorry we didn't talk to you, but it's hard, no one will understand," Ginny could feel her heart pounding, she didn't want to get upset.

"You're breaking the law, you know that right?" Harry pointed his wand at Ron, he didn't want to have to do this.

"Yeah, course we do. But it's not-it's difficult for us, Harry," Ron watched his sister out the corner of his eye, he didn't want to lose her.

"It's difficult for you…it's going to be even more difficult for me now! Isn't it? What do you want me to do? This is incest, it's illegal! I-I can't even lok at you right now!" Harry shot them a disgusted look before rushing from the room. The sound of thudding as Harry ran down the stairs filled Ron and Ginny Weasley's ears.

_-_-_-_-_-

Hermione sat in the bath of hot water, wearing a boring swimsuit to cover up in front of Draco. She sat there in silence as he quietly rubbed a soapy rag on her body. She felt comforted by Draco taking care of her, she was seeing more and more of the good guy he had become.

Draco bathed Hermione like she was a piece of glass that could shatter at any moment. Her body was covered in bruises and sores from being prisoner to Blaize. Every time he saw her like this, he wanted to find Blaize and kill him. But he knew he had to be here for Hermione. He would get to Blaize eventually.

By the time Draco was finished with Hermione, she was like a new woman. She actually smelt nice for the first time since her capture. Her hair was soft and shiny again and her skin was smooth. She smelled like heaven in a body that just got back from hell.

Hermione looked into the mirror and didn't recognize herself. Nothing about her was Hermione anymore and in that moment, she stopped trying. She gave up on herself.

Hermione turned away from the mirror and out of the bathroom. She walked away from Hermione and toward the person she had to become.


End file.
